Who Would've Thought?
by drag princess16
Summary: Hermione spends a day with Malfoy who is actually nice to her. When she spends more time with him during school, will Harry and Ron accept it?
1. Chapter 1

'This is just great,' Draco thought. 'Here I am stuck in Diagon Alley with only Angela to talk to.'

He happened to be escorting his little cousin while she shopped around a little bit, since he already had his school shopping done. It was three weeks before school was supposed to start. At the moment all Draco wanted was someone his own age to talk to.

'Right now I wouldn't care if Granger showed up.'

As luck would have it, she walked out of a shop just then and almost slammed into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with her nose buried in a piece of parchment.

"That's quite alright" came the answer in an all-too-familiar drawl.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?"

"My cousin asked me to take her shopping. Angela, this is Hermione Granger." He said politely.

"It's nice to met you Angela." Hermione said, shaking the young girl's hand.

"Are you Draco's girlfriend?" She asked so innocently.

They both blushed ever so slightly and Hermione said "No I'm not. We're just friends from school."

"Speaking of which, have you gotten your books yet?" he asked as if they really were friends. She wasn't sure if he was serious or if he was just trying to make them look like friends for Angela's benefit. Either way she had always believed that honesty was the best policy.

"I just finished actually. Why do you ask?"

"Because I was thinking if you weren't bust right now, maybe you'd like to join me and Angela for a bite to eat?"

She thought about it for a minute and saw that Draco was looking rather hopeful.

"Fine," she said. "As long as you let me pay my own bill."

"I certainly will."

And they began walking. As they walked they got used to each other's company and were finally able to have a real conversation. People that knew who they were probably thought it looked very weird. Draco was just happy to be talking to someone his own age and rather intelligent. As for Hermione, she was simply glad that he was treating her like a human being, as opposed to when he would act like she wasn't worth the ground she stood on. Then there was a sudden jump in the conversation.

"So where are Potter and Weasley today? I thought they would be here with you."

Hermione thought about how much fun everyone was probably having at the Burrow, and a small pang of jealousy hit her. But again she had to tell the truth.

"I was vacationing in Italy with my parents and we just got home yesterday."

"Oh, okay. Did you like it in Italy?"

She smiled and they continued talking to each other as if none of their past had ever happened. Finally Angela interrupted.

"Draco can we get going again? I wanna get some more stuff!"

"OK, Angela. Hermione, would you care to keep me company while I become bored out of my mind?"

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding Angela! Hermione?" He had asked so nicely that she found it impossible to resist.

"Sure. I've got time." She said with a big smile.

As they neared Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Angela began jumping up and down.

"Can we go in there? Please, please, please."

Draco looked to Hermione as if to ask 'Is it OK?'

"OK, OK. Let's go." She said, laughing.

Angela jumped once again for joy and grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her into the store with Draco not far behind, but far enough to lose them. Fred and George saw her walk in and since they weren't very busy, went over to talk to her as Angela ogled the merchandise. Draco was browsing absentmindedly until he noticed the time. He found Hermione and asked her if she was ready to leave.

"Yeah. But you might have to pry Angela from the racks." She answered.

As Draco went off to do that, Fred and George pulled Hermione aside.

"What are you doing hanging out with Malfoy?" Fred asked.

This made her blood begin to boil. Since when do they get any say in who she spends her time with?

"I bumped into him on the street as I was finishing my shopping and he invited me to eat with them. Is that OK with you?" she snapped.

"Hey, hey. We're just trying to look out for you." George said trying to calm her down.

"Well don't. I can take care of myself!" she said

"Trouble in paradise?" Draco asked as he brought Angela over to pay for her stuff.

"It's nothing. Let's go." Hermione said glaring at Fred and George.

They walked along in silence for awhile, when Hermione suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, yeah! Did I tell you I made Head Girl?"

"No shit! I'm Head Boy!"

"Really? Wow."

"Don't be excited for me or anything. But at least it's not Ernie Macmillan."

"I'm sorry. And you're right. You are far better than Ernie."

"Ooo, careful. That almost sounded like a compliment."

"Oh, shut up!" she said, blushing a little. "And remember, I have no problem with taking it back."

"Oooo, threat. But I thought Hermione Granger was never wrong?"

"On rare occasions, yes, I am wrong."

As they continued on their way to the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione thought about how easy it was to talk to Draco now. She had even stopped calling him 'Malfoy' in her thoughts.

"So where you headed now?" he asked with genuine interest.

"Well, I'm gonna go home for a few days. But then I'm going to stay at the Burrow until school starts."

"Oh, OK." He said. And Hermione thought she detected just a hint of disappointment in his voice. But she couldn't be sure.

They finally reached their destination and were about to go their separate ways when Angela spoke up.

"Will I see you again Hermione?"

Hermione looked at Draco as she tried to figure out the best way to answer. But she didn't have to because Draco spoke for her.

"I'll see what I can do, Angela." He said, with a look at Hermione. And the glimpse of his eyes that she got told her that he really meant that. And that meant the world to her.


	2. Chapter 2

As Hermione wheeled her cart toward Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station, she looked at the clock, which read 10:24. So she had about 35 minutes to find a compartment. She had been ignoring Harry and Ron since the day she got to the Burrow. They had immediately run up to her with a million questions.

"Fred and George told us you were hanging out with Malfoy. Is it true?"

"Why would you want to be near that git?"

After about 20 minutes of interrogation and Hermione defending herself, she was about to strangle them. But she resolved to ignore them and talking mainly to Ginny. She decided that after 2 ½ weeks of the cold shoulder that they had had enough and that she would talk to them on the train. She had only come through the platform a minute before the rest of them, but she still managed to get separated from the group. She was looking around for the telltale red hair when someone came up behind her.

"Fancy seeing you here." He said in her ear.

She smiled.

"Hey Draco."

"Hey," he said pointing at her in mock accusation, "that's the first time you actually called me 'Draco'. Cool."

"Oh, shut up. I figure it's the least I can do after you introduced me as 'Hermione'."

"Well, it is your name."

"True. But I would've expected you to call me 'Mudblood'. Or at least 'Granger'."

"First of all," he said, suddenly getting defensive. "I'm not that mean. And secondly, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not my father and I can change."

"I'm just saying it's different. I never said it was bad. I'm sorry if that's how it sounded."

"OK. Well people are gonna start talking if we stand here too much longer. So I'll see you later."

Just then Ginny spotted her.

"Hermione! Over here."

Hermione turned and held up a finger to say 'just a minute'. But when she turned back around to say 'goodbye' to Draco, he had disappeared. She sighed and wheeled her cart over to them. When she saw the looks Harry and Ron were giving her, she wanted to strangle them all over again.

"One word and I promise you, I will not talk to you all year." Was all she could say.

Later when the trolley came by they got their usual mountain of snacks to split between the four of them (Harry Ron Ginny and Hermione). But she barely had any time to enjoy it because just then Draco burst into the compartment.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Did you forget that we have to sit in the first compartment?"

She gasped. "Oops. It totally slipped my mind."

"Well, now that you've remembered, shall we?"

"OK." She said with a laugh. And she left her trunk there since she had already changed into her school robes.

As they were walking, a thought suddenly occurred to Draco.

"You didn't really forget about the compartment did you? You just didn't want to sit with me."

"That's not true Draco! I just wasn't thinking, that's all."

"Yeah, right. Like Hermione Granger ever stops thinking."

"Believe it or not, it's true. And why am I still defending myself to you?" she asked herself.

They finally reached the compartment and settled in. Hermione took to staring out the window until she felt Draco's eyes on her. She turned to look at him and he was very relaxed with his arms crossed over his chest, just staring at her, not doing anything to hide it.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering why I didn't notice it before."

"Notice what?"

"That you can be normal at times."

She just rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. Leaving Draco to stare at her more and marvel at how pretty she was., though he wouldn't say that out loud (yet).


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: OK. I am officially pumped. I posted the first two chapters of this and within about an hour I had a couple reviews. It makes me very happy to see that you people care so much!! Haha…anyway, here's chapter three……

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Hermione could feel Draco's eyes on her for the rest of the trip. But she refused to look at him because somehow she knew that's what he wanted. When they finally pulled into Hogsmeade station she glanced over at him before going to retrieve her trunk.

"Have you been staring at me this whole time?"

"Maybe. Why? Does it bother you?"

"If it did, would you stop?"

"I might consider it."

"Fine. It bothers me a little."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not used to people staring at me."

"Why?"

"What? Do you need my whole life's story?"

"If you think it will help."

"I'm done talking to you."

"Hermione just answer the question."

"I'm not all that much to look at, that's why!" she yelled and then stormed off to find Ginny. Draco stayed where he was. But he whispered to the silence.

"Yes you are."

That evening at the feast, Dumbledore was giving his famous speech and as it was coming to a close he announced,

"I'd like to introduce you to your new Head Girl, Miss Hermione Granger of Gryffindor and your new Head Boy, Mister Draco Malfoy of Slytherin. Would you two please stand up so that the other students know who you are?"

They did as they were asked. And as they sat down, Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Would you two also stick around after the feast?"

They nodded and he seemed satisfied so the feast began. While they were eating, Hermione kept sneaking glances at Draco, but he was always absorbed in conversation. That is, until the last time she looked over. He had looked up just then and even at this distance she could see a twinkle in his that wasn't there before this year. Finally the feast was over and everybody was leaving the Great Hall to get to their dorms before they crash. But Hermione and Draco went up to Dumbledore so he could show them to their dorm. They followed him up two flights of stairs and then down another and then up three more and down two and up one. Such was the school, a maze. When they finally stopped, it was in front of a portrait of a man that Draco didn't recognize but Hermione knew immediately who it was.

"Sir, why is there a portrait of Marilyn Manson at Hogwarts?"

"Miss Granger, you mean to tell me that you never wondered why he seemed to be so different to Muggles?"

"No, not really. I never thought about it, because I always knew that he was being himself."

"You are exactly right, he was being himself. He is a wizard, Hermione."

"That is so awesome!" she said excited to know something that made her feel like she could relate to him even more.

"Shall we go in now?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes, Professor. I'm sorry."

"Very well, then." And he turned to the portrait and said "Tainted Love" (Hermione squeaked) and the portrait swung open to reveal a grand common room. The whole room was decorated in their House colors.

"Well I will leave you two to find your bedrooms. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Professor" they chorused.

Dumbledore left and they continued to explore. Hermione went to check out her room. All of a sudden Draco heard

"Oh my god!" and he rushed upstairs to find Hermione staring in awe at her room.

"I'm home." She said in wonder. And she advanced into the room that was decorated completely in black, green, and turquoise, with a little bit of red thrown in for added contrast.

"Wait, I'm lost. Why are you home?"

"It's my favorite colors." she said still trying to take in the whole room.

"Cool." He said and then he turned around to find his own room.

When she realized he was gone, she went to find him. Which wouldn't be too hard since their initials were on their doors. On the way there she found the bathroom. 'That will be a useful bit of information' she thought. When she finally found it, the door was shut. She knocked on it, not willing to just open it and see something that would potentially scar her for life.

"What do you want?"

"You mean other than my brother to come home from the army?"

"Smart-ass."

"Yes I am. C'mon let me see your room."

"If I do you have to promise not to laugh."

"I promise I won't laugh."

"OK." And the door opened to reveal a room decorated in black and blue, with various pink objects to accent it. She giggled.

"Hey!"

"I promised I wouldn't laugh, I said nothing about giggling." She hugged him because she saw that he was pouting. She didn't even think about what she was doing. "But no, I don't care, I'm not gonna be sleeping here." And he, without thinking, leaned down and kissed her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I realize that these chapters are rather short. But you have to understand, the first chapter took up like 6 pages in my notebook. I'll work on it, I promise…..

* * *

A million thoughts were running through Hermione's mind as Draco kissed her. The most prominent of which included Harry and Ron and what they would think of the situation, but she immediately forgot all about them when Draco pulled back. 

"Sorry." Was all he could say.

"It's totally fine"

"Thank you for being so understanding. Goodnight." He said and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight." She whispered. He retreated to his room and she walked back to hers in a total fog. She didn't even remember changing into her pajamas. She did however sleep more peacefully that she had in a while.

* * *

Draco immediately collapsed onto his bed and thought about what had just happened. He had kissed Hermione Granger. He had kissed her and she didn't care. They kissed and he no longer cared about anything but her.

* * *

The next day, Hermione got up rather early considering it was a Saturday. And she used this time to take a long, hot shower and think about what happened last night with Draco. She came to the conclusion that they needed to talk about it immediately. She went down to the common room so she could think about what to say and how to say it. A little bit later, Draco came into the common room. 

"Hey! Can you come over here?"

"Am I in trouble?" he asked jokingly. "Because whatever it is I didn't do it!"

She just laughed. "No, you are not in trouble. I just want to talk to you."

"OK." He sat down on the couch next to her and she turned to face him.

"Draco," she said, "I need to know what happened last night."

"Mm…I'm not even sure myself. I mean you didn't laugh when I asked you not to."

"Ahhh…one thing you should know about me is that I don't break promises."

"And I'm not used to that. Because you know my dad, he gets what he wants no matter what ha has to do to get it."

I understand that, I do. But you have to understand that when I kiss someone, that means something to me. And I need you to tell me how you feel about it."

Draco hesitated.

"Please, Draco?"

"OK. The truth is it meant something to me. I'm not sure what that is just yet, but it's something."

"That'll work for now. I'm just wondering about how the rest of the school will take it."

"I thought you didn't care about what other people thought."

"I don't. Unless the situation involves another person."

"OK. Here's how we solve this: We act normal for a few days and if we can't handle that, we'll let everyone else know."

"Works for me. Let's go get some breakfast."

"Yes let's do that!"

They walked down to the Great Hall in comfortable silence. Until they reached the doors, where Draco quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching and he blocked them and refused to move until Hermione gave him a kiss, which she did. But not before looking around again to make sure no one saw. Then she told Draco to go in first so that she could get rid of the goofy smile that had popped up off of her face. Little did either of them know that Lavender Brown had started to round the corner just as they'd kissed. After Hermione had gone into the Great Hall, Lavender came out into the open and smiled to herself, had any one been around to see, they would have said it was a rather malicious smile.

* * *

As they went through their classes that Monday each of them felt people watching them. It was rather unsettling for both of them. As soon as Hermione sat down to eat lunch, her friends attacked her.

"Hermione! Is it true?" Harry asked.

"Is what true?"

"Are the rumors true? Are you with that git Malfoy?" Ron asked.

She was very taken aback by this. She looked over to the Slytherin table to see what looked like a similar assault on Draco. She caught his eye and an understanding seemed to pass between them: 'Give nothing away just yet'. So they furiously denied everything that was thrown at them until finally Hermione got sick of it and stormed away.

Draco saw her storm out of the Great Hall and tried to figure out how he could follow suit. The opportunity presented itself when someone accused him of the one thing the old Draco would have hated to be associated with.

"What's up with you? Are you into Hermione Granger?"

He was finally able to explode.

"Why are you accusing me of actually liking that Mud blood? Have you gone mad? I would have to be mad to go for her!" he exclaimed, knowing that he could twist that last statement into something nice and endearing if needed.

They managed to get through the rest of their classes without killing anyone, then they both went back to their dorm. So that they wouldn't have to deal with other people. They got to the portrait of Marilyn Manson at the same time.

"God! Today sucked!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Tell me about it."

They turned and said 'Tainted Love' at the same time and Hermione tried to hold back her giggle (she would never get used to that password) and they climbed into their common room. Hermione immediately collapsed onto her favorite couch, which was black (of course) with red flowers embroidered on it. Draco took his bag up to his room and changed into the David Bowie t-shirt Hermione had given him after she played a few of his albums for Draco and his favorite pair of jeans before going down and sitting on the same couch as her. She extended her legs over his lap so he could move closer to her and they could talk.

"So what happens now Draco? I'm not sure if I can take another day like today."

"I agree. But I'm still not sure how to handle this."

"Well, let's consider our options: If we ignore them long enough, they'll forget about it…"

"But who knows how long that will take. Though on the other hand if we expose it now, they get to feel like they've won."

"That's true. I propose we wait another day or two and if the rumors don't die down, we'll figure out a way to tell them so that we win. I'm actually not even sure where we stand for now…"

"Well," he said, looking right at her, "I'd love to hear you say that you're my girlfriend. But please don't say anything unless you are absolutely sure."

She thought about it for a minute, considering all the possibilities because she was Hermione. Finally she decided that she was happiest when she was with Draco and screw the rest of the world. She had not broken eye contact the whole time and held his gaze as she said

"I would _love _to be able to tell people that I'm your girlfriend."

She saw relief wash over his face and realized just how much he really had wanted to hear that. They sat in silence for a while, Hermione playing with Draco's sleeve, and Draco resting his hand on her bare leg due to the skirt she was wearing. All of a sudden Hermione thought of something.

"What happens when Harry and Ron find out about us? And I'm not the one to tell them?"

"Do you wanna go tell them now?"

"No. I really don't want to deal with people right now."

"OK."

They stayed up until 11:00 just talking, until Hermione started to yawn every two minutes. She stood up and told Draco she was going to bed. He jumped up and escorted her, telling her that he wanted to be the last thing she saw before she fell asleep. He kissed her goodnight and went to bed himself, falling asleep in his clothes and dreaming only of Hermione.

* * *

A/N: As I read a lot of these fics, I notice that most authors are begging for reviews, but also don't want any flames. So, I've come up with a compromise: I will let you vent all of your anger out on my fic as long as you tell me that's what you're doing. If you don't, then I will become angry at you…. 

A very special thanks goes to Boho Bella who declared that I own……


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I was rather disappointed with the small number of reviews I got for the last chapter. So, here's what I'm gonna do: I will refuse to post a new chapter until I get up to 20 reviews. Considering that I already have 10, it shouldn't be that hard. My sincerest apologies to the people that have reviewed.

* * *

Hermione woke up the next day extremely happy, but she wasn't sure why at first. But then she remembered the discussion she and Draco had the night before and smiled. Since it was still rather early, she got up and took her time getting ready for class. By the time there was only ten minutes left until breakfast and she had not seen or heard of Draco yet, she decided to wake him up herself. First, she went to his room and knocked on the door, when he didn't answer she went in and sat on his bed. She bent down to his ear and whispered, "Draco, wake up." He stirred, but didn't wake. 'Oh, boy! I get to do it the fun way!' she thought. She bent down once again, but this time to his face. First, she kissed his forehead, then his right cheek, then the left, and finally his lips. She repeated this once more before he woke up.

"Whoa. It felt like I was just kissed by an angel." He said before opening his eyes. Hermione just smiled and sat there. Finally Draco did open his eyes.

"Well would you look at that? I was. Good morning beautiful."

"Good morning perfect."

"What time is it?"

"Breakfast has just started. I'm going down now so as not to arouse suspicions."

"OK. Come here." And he pulled her into one last kiss.

She smiled. "I'll see you later." She said before leaving very quickly so she couldn't get lured back in. Draco sighed and got up and quickly changed into his school robes. After checking his bag to make sure he had everything he needed, he went to breakfast. The first part of the day passed with nothing really exciting going on until Draco was on his way to lunch when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face Millicent Bullstrode standing very close to him. They stared at each other for a minute before Millicent suddenly leaned in and kissed him. He felt like he was going to puke and tried to push her away, but as strong as he was, she was just a little stronger. So, all he could do was wait until she was done making him sick. Unfortunately Hermione turned the corner just then, and even as far away as Draco was, he could see her eyes tear up right before she turned and ran the other way. She found herself looking at the comforting face of Marilyn Manson.

"What's wrong, my dear?" he asked, looking down at her sympathetically.

"Marilyn, I saw Draco kissing another girl." She said between sobs.

"Hmm. How long were you looking at him?"

"Only a few seconds."

"Did he see you?"

"I think so."

"I think you should go and ask Draco for the whole story before you do anything rash. If you don't believe him at first make him look you in the eye and say it. And don't assume things when all you get is a glimpse of the situation. You should know that as Head Girl."

"You're right, I know. I'll go talk to him now."

"Wait a minute. You might want to go wash your face off first."

She put a finger to her cheek and when she pulled it away she saw what he meant. Her make-up was smudged and running.

"Ugh. I hate when that happens. Tainted Love."

"So do I." he said as the portrait swung open.

Ten minutes later when she emerged from the portrait hole again, you almost couldn't tell she had cried at all. For she had thoroughly washed her face and reapplied her make-up. She went down to the Great Hall as quickly as she could so she could at least eat a little bit. She had also decided to let Draco come to her and explain what had happened. She found that she didn't have to wait very long because as she climbed into the portrait hole she discovered why she hadn't seen him at dinner. He was sitting on the same couch that they had sat on the night before, in almost the same spot, looking very distressed. She went over and sat down in the same spot as last night, but she didn't put her legs over his. He didn't even look at her immediately.

"Hermione, I know you saw me and Millicent earlier." At this point he did look at her. "I promise you, I had nothing to do with that. I completely understand if you don't believe me, but that's the truth." He looked down at his hands. "I couldn't bear to see that look on your face ever again." As he tried has best not to cry. And it worked, except for one tear, which he tried to hide, but Hermione saw it anyway. And that was how she knew he was telling her honestly. She reached over and placed her hand on his cheek, turning him to face her again.

"It's OK." She said. And she pulled him over to her and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and couldn't fight it anymore, he started to cry right into her shoulder. She made no move to stop him, she just whispered in his ear that it wasn't his fault. And then she began to sing one of her favorite songs from the movie "Rent".

"Without you, the ground thaws,

The rain falls, the grass grows.

Without you, the seeds root,

The flowers bloom, the children play.

The stars gleam, the poets dream.

The eagles fly, without you.

The earth turns, the sun burns,

But I'd die without you.

Without you, the tides change,

The boys run, the oceans crash.

The crowds roar, the days soar

The babies cry, without you.

The moon glows, the river flows,

But I'd die without you."

By the time she finished singing he had calmed down considerably. So she leaned back and looked at him

"I don't want this to happen again, and I think the only way to make sure it doesn't is to tell the rest of the school that we are together."

He looked at her very intently. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm very sure."

"OK. How do you want to do it?"

And for the next half hour they discussed their different options. And decided the best way would be to walk into the Great Hall during breakfast the next day holding hands. So they did. As soon as they stepped through the doors, the entire Hall got quiet and just stared for a minute. Draco leaned down and gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek and the Hall started buzzing. Hermione walked over to the Gryffindor table with renewed confidence and sat down next to Ginny who was across from Harry and Ron and shot them a look that said 'one word and you will wish you were never born'. So they went back to eating, but kept looking up at her in disbelief.

"So that's the guy you kept thinking about this summer."

Hermione turned to Ginny and smiled, "Yeah that's the guy." She turned to look at the Slytherin table and saw Draco arguing with the rest of his House with a murderous glint in his eye. He glanced over her way and she blew him a kiss before turning back to Harry and Ron who were gaping at her.

"Do you want a repeat of this summer?" They shook their heads. "Good. Then eat." She said firmly.

She knew that the rest of the school was staring at her, but she didn't care because she had Draco. As the day progressed each of them got dirty looks all over the school. The only people to still speak to them were their closest friends. Harry, Ron, and Ginny for Hermione. Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle for Draco, but there did seem to be tension between Draco and Crabbe and Goyle.

'What a way to find out who your real friends are,' he thought, 'they just want to hold a grudge even though Voldemort is dead.'

* * *

A/N: and I may have forgotten to mention that I am not totally sure of where this story is going, so I am open to suggestions…… 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I did not get my 20 reviews, but I'm posting this anyway because I feel bad for the people that did review and want more. Kudos go out to bcsbookworm who figured out the loophole with the reviews. And now, on with chapter six….

The next few months passed without much drama. There were a couple rude comments here and there, but it was nothing to get all up in a tizzy about. Draco and Hermione were walking out by the lake and decided to sit down on a bench even though it was the end of November and rather chilly.

"I can't believe they're still going on about us." Hermione said.

"I know they're so immature!" said Draco. "I just can't believe I haven't heard anything from my father yet. Normally he would be all over me about this."

"That is odd. I wonder what he'll do when he does find out…"

Meanwhile at Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy begins cooking up a plot to get Draco to confess everything to him. He's decided to have Draco meet him in Hogsmeade on the first Saturday in December for coffee and a talk. He wrote a letter to Draco asking him to do so and sent it off with his own personal owl.

The next day at Hogwarts, when the post came in during breakfast, Draco was surprised to see his father's owl, Alexander; he quickly took the letter from him and gave him some bacon so he would leave. He opened the envelope very carefully as if it were a bomb, and took out the letter it contained. It read:

Draco,

I would like to arrange a meeting with you before the Christmas holiday. Does Saturday the fourth work for you? If so, meet me in Hogsmeade at the three broomsticks and we can chat.

As always

Father

Draco's eyes widened at every word and he had to read it over a few more times to make himself believe that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. He knew the first thing he had to do was show the letter to Hermione. So he immediately went over to the Gryffindor table and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"I need to talk to you as soon as possible."

"OK. Let's go right now." And she grabbed her bag and hurried out of the Great Hall after him. They found an empty classroom and went in. she saw the look on his face and became very concerned.

"What's wrong?"

Instead of answering he just held Lucius' letter out to her. She began reading it and her reaction was very similar to his. She finally looked back up at him.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm not sure just yet. But give me some time to think about it."

"Alright. Go talk to Marilyn; he might be able to help you."

"You know, I'm getting sick of you always telling me to talk to Marilyn Manson!"

"I'm sorry if I like the advice he gives? Oh, wait. No I'm not!"

"I don't appreciate you yelling at me like that!"

"Well then don't yell at me!"

"I wasn't yelling at you." He said, suddenly very tired. "I just need some time alone."

"Fine I'll see you in the common room later if you're still up."

"OK." And he left the classroom. Hermione remained where she was but she stared after him, even after he was already gone she stared at the door for a few minutes before turning back around and picking up her bag to go to class. All of her classes passed by in a blur that day. When she finally got down to the Great Hall for dinner she noticed immediately that Draco wasn't there, but she figured he was just in their common room thinking. She ate very quickly so that she could go talk to him sooner and Harry, Ron, and Ginny certainly noticed. At first they just looked at each other with worried expressions. But then Ginny spoke up.

"Hey why don't you slow down a bit, Mya?" You're gonna cause problems for yourself if you don't."

"Whatever, I'm done anyway." And indeed she was. She said a quick goodbye to everybody and just barely restrained herself from sprinting out of the Hall.

She got all the way up to their hall at a brisk walk, but as soon as she saw Marilyn Manson, she broke out into a full out run. She was so out of breath by the time she reached the portrait that she could just barely get 'Tainted Love' out before she had to start gasping for air. She clambered into the common room and collapsed on the floor before the portrait had even shut. As soon as her heart rate returned to normal, she got up and went to see if Draco was in his room since he wasn't in the common room. She took the steps two at a time and rushed over to his door. She knocked very rapidly and continuously until he opened the door. She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him as hard as she could.

"Please don't scare me like that again. When I didn't see you at dinner, I thought something might've happened to you."

"Shh. I'm fine. I'm sorry I won't do that again." He kissed her on the forehead. "I've been trying to think of a way out of this meeting with my father and I think I've got something."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: A thousand apologies that it took so long for a chapter this short. I didn't have very much inspiration let alone time for it. But I promise I'm working on that one.

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"Any ideas yet?"

It was the next day and neither one of them had come up with anything yet.

"Do you think you could say that Dumbledore won't allow it?" Hermione asked.

"Probably not. He'd just tell me to defy him. I could say that I'm ill but he'd just reschedule it."

"Hmmm. I think the best thing would be to go tell Dumbledore and then just go see what he wants."

"That's easy for you to say. My father doesn't 'chat', Hermione, he controls."

"Would it make you feel better if I found a way to be there too?"

"Kind of yes and kind of no. If you were there, he'd figure it out and probably try to kill you. And I couldn't live with myself of I let that happen."

"Well then," she said as she shifted closer and hugged him tighter, "we'll just have to see to it that he doesn't."

"But how do we do that?" He looked completely bewildered and she found it so cute.

"I'll think of something." She said just before kissing him.

That afternoon Draco didn't see much of Hermione and he knew then exactly how she felt the night before. She finally arrived back at the common room at about 8:30 to find him sitting on her favorite couch. It looked like he was trying to do homework but just couldn't concentrate. She crept up behind him and hugged him around the neck. He turned around startled but just pulled her into his lap and kissed her.

"What have you been doing all day?" he asked as she pulled his book out from under her and placed it on the coffee table.

"You'll find out. She said in a very sing-song voice. And find out he did. For Draco had received another note from his father reminding him of the meeting that Saturday and setting the time for 1 o'clock. Around 10:30 a.m. Hermione dragged him up to the Headmaster's office, to great protests from Draco, and walked right in as if she had every right to.

"Professor, is everything set up like we talked about?"

"It is Miss Granger. I just need to know what time this will all take place."

"1 o'clock, sir."

"Very well. Have you filled young Mr. Malfoy in yet?"

"No, sir. It was hard enough to get him out of the common room."

"Well let us not keep him waiting any longer. Is everything set on your end Hermione?"

"Almost. I just have to snag Harry and Ron on the way out."

"Why would you have to do that?" Draco finally spoke up.

"Because their presence is important to this idea that I've had." She said flashing a huge grin. "Trust me."

Draco looked skeptical, but he had no choice but to agree. So she grabbed his hand and led out of the office, and just and she said they stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady on the way down to the Entrance Hall. Even though Hermione knew that she could trust Draco, she still leaned in very close to the portrait and whispered the password. A few minutes later the portrait reopened and Ron came tumbling out closely followed by Harry who almost knocked him over. Both boys looked very frightened as if they had just been threatened with permanently losing their man-hood, or something of that caliber. Hermione emerged looking rather smug and triumphant.

"OK. Let's go. I'll explain the situation on the way."

"Yeah, that would be nice." Said Ron as he stared at Draco in disgust.

It only took Hermione about 20 minutes to explain everything about Draco and his father coming and how it would be bad for Lucius to find out about her and Draco. Harry and Ron listened quietly. When they were sure she was finished, Harry spoke up. And he spoke directly to Draco.

"I still don't like you, but if it's for Mya, I'm in." Ron nodded in agreement. "So what's the plan?"

"It's not complicated at all. Draco will go and speak to his father as if everything is normal. We will be elsewhere in the shop. Did you bring your cloak, Harry?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, you may need it. Since you and Ron will need to be close enough to hear what they are saying."

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A/N: Again, a thousand apologies that this little bit took so long. As soon as I get some inspiration, I'll write the next chapter and post it. 


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